Did not expect McNeeley to be this good this soon!

[Umami Zen]

He is money at FTs at crunch time

 

[temery]

He needs another year or three.

 

[tuvent08]

I see no reason why we shouldn’t support him earning his post-doc here.

 

[bazzdog]

You can see what Hurley envisioned and how good this team would be if Mahaney panned out as another 3 level scorer putting up double digits at the point with Hass coming in off the bench. We would be at a whole other level.

Patience my friend

 

[HuskyCane]

McNeeley reminds me of Rip Hamilton, can distribute, create and knock down 3's... He has an excellent all around game!

 

[HuskyFich]

How easily we overlook the word "scorer". Lol.

Castle could have got 20 points any night he wanted.

I will die on this hill.

 

[UCan3]

How easy we forget Stephon Castle, lol.

I have often said that Castle was a generational talent as a freshman. Never seen anything like it - total package.

Never thought I would be talking about another player sharing this distiction, not in my lifetime.

But, I was wrong.. Liam looks like a senior out there - oh my!

 

[AdamaNation]

Mahaney is also a 3 level scorer.. I think as the season goes on Mahaney is going to be a big part of the success of this team as a backup to Diarra..

I think mahaney is filling in for nowell. It’s not clicking. Nowell will be the 1st guard off the bench going forward. He’s just tougher and more athletic.

 

[AdamaNation]

Patience my friend

Those double digits would be a wash with the 15-20 he’d give up each night.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Castle could have got 20 points any night he wanted.

I will die on this hill.

We had a few who could have, some (Ray, as I stated earlier for one) weren't given the opportunity to do so because one (more) was ahead of them. I was intentionally very specific with my wording. I did not say best player as a freshman nor best offensive player as a freshman.

Castle was as good of a player as a true freshman as any we've had (that's a hill that I will die on) but even if you were to take his top dozen games he would be behind McNeeley as a scorer. That doesn't mean that Castle wasn't the better player, even with McNeeley being a far superior three point shooter.

When this season is in the books I would absolutely love to be able to claim that McNeeley was every bit as good as Castle was because that would play a very large role in a great tournament run but, being able to place one of our kids over another doesn't interest me anywhere near as much as enjoying watching our program's success and appreciating greatness that we've seen in players who have accomplished that here.

 

[superjohn]

Castle could have got 20 points any night he wanted.

I will die on this hill.

No way, he simply isn't a good enough shooter to be an easy 20 point guy.

 

[Scoe]

Let’s not forget how good Rudy Gay was as a freshman.

 

[HooperScooper]

Let’s not forget how good Rudy Gay as a freshman.

Or Caron Butler, who lead the team in scoring his freshman season.

 

[willie99]

I could be overlooking someone but I think he's the most confident and most successful scorer as a true freshman that we've had here since Corny Thompson.

Granted, there were a few who had quality returning players in front of them in their freshman year (Ray comes immediately to mind), but still, what Liam has shown is impressive.

Since Caron Butler my friend, but point well taken

 

[UCan3]

We had a few who could have, some (Ray, as I stated earlier for one) weren't given the opportunity to do so because one (more) was ahead of them. I was intentionally very specific with my wording. I did not say best player as a freshman nor best offensive player as a freshman.

Castle was as good of a player as a true freshman as any we've had (that's a hill that I will die on) but even if you were to take his top dozen games he would be behind McNeeley as a scorer. That doesn't mean that Castle wasn't the better player, even with McNeeley being a far superior three point shooter.

When this season is in the books I would absolutely love to be able to claim that McNeeley was every bit as good as Castle was because that would play a very large role in a great tournament run but, being able to place one of our kids over another doesn't interest me anywhere near as much as enjoying watching our program's success and appreciating greatness that we've seen in players who have accomplished that here.

not ready to put him on equal footing just yet. But I think even the fact McNeeley is in the conversation is a huge testament to what he's brought to this team the one wildcard I would give to castle is the defense

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Since Caron Butler my friend, but point well taken

I also included "true" before freshman. That was with Caron in mind.

 

[FearThePups]

Is he expected to be one and done?

He passes the eye test.

 

[alexd]

I also included "true" before freshman. That was with Caron in mind.

Yep...Caron was closer to 21 than 20 by the time he played for us his first year.

 

[CL82]

I'm sure some will disagree and say Alex is as important, if not more, but if it was between Alex or Liam, I'd take Liam who provides a particular set of skills.

I see what you did there!

 

[Tenspro2002]

He needs another year or three.

NIL Era. What's the rush?

 

[AZHuskiePop]

I could be overlooking someone but I think he's the most confident and most successful scorer as a true freshman that we've had here since Corny Thompson.

Granted, there were a few who had quality returning players in front of them in their freshman year (Ray comes immediately to mind), but still, what Liam has shown is impressive.

not ready to put him on equal footing just yet. But I think even the fact McNeeley is in the conversation is a huge testament to what he's brought to this team the one wildcard I would give to castle is the defense

Castle was as talented and with as great future potential as any freshman we ever had but he was the 5th option on a great team who opponents frequently ignored to double another shooter . He played a key role but was never the man.
You can’t compare hIm freshman vs freshman to Khalid the leading scorer and facilitator on a veteran team.
Ot even Emeka whose interior D and rebounding were complete game changers
Rip was also the number 1 option as a freshman as was Corny.
We’re talking about players who are singled out in practice by opponents as the man we have to stop or adjust are offense because of ., to have a chance . Castle as much as we love him was not that guy ,
McNeeley is that guy .

I didn’t even put Ray on the list as it was Donyell Marshal’s team and he was probably the most talented UConn player ever .

 

[jleves]

I said immediately after the Sacred Heart game that we need to enjoy him this year cause he isn't going to be here next year. He just has it.

 

[RuffRuff]

 

[CT2SC]

I could be overlooking someone but I think he's the most confident and most successful scorer as a true freshman that we've had here since Corny Thompson.

Granted, there were a few who had quality returning players in front of them in their freshman year (Ray comes immediately to mind), but still, what Liam has shown is impressive.

Earl Kelley was also a confident and successful scorer. If I remember correctly he was also BE freshman of the year. And he did it in an era where UConn had few other scoring options and opponents could focus on him defensively.

 

[CT2SC]

I have often said that Castle was a generational talent as a freshman. Never seen anything like it - total package.

Never thought I would be talking about another player sharing this distiction, not in my lifetime.

But, I was wrong.. Liam looks like a senior out there - oh my!

McNeeley is further ahead of Castle at this point of the season. Castle was still figuring things out at the end of last year. We also need much more out of McNeeley than what we needed out of Castle.